The Panasonic Corporation was founded as Matsushita Denki Kigu Seisakujo in March 1918 by Kōnosuke Matsushita as a family business. In Japan, the company first launched bicycle bulbs, household products and television sets. From 1955 Matsushita began to export loudspeakers and lamps under the newly introduced "PanaSonic" brand. Matsushita sold various products for the audio and video sector under these brand names.
In the 1970s and 1980s, the company developed numerous innovations, such as the direct drive for turntables and the VHS video standard, which finally established itself worldwide in the home user sector. Panasonic was also instrumental in the development of the CD and later DVD standards. The same applies to the DV and DVC-Pro video systems as well as plasma screens in HD quality.
The company is now one of the world's largest manufacturers of consumer electronics and electrical appliances. Around 290,500 people work for Panasonic abroad. Since October 1, 2008, the company is only called Panasonic Corporation. This was mainly due to the fact that the company was better known abroad under the name Panasonic.
